Door controller



' July 28, 1953 R. H. MILTON 2,646,590

DOOR CONTROLLER Filed April 3, 1950 'IIIII/IIIIIIIIIIIIA INVENTOR ROBERT H. MlLTON WWW W24.

ATTORNEYS lav-ELI Patented July 28, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DooR CONTROLLER Robert H. Milton, La Jolla, Calif.

Application AprilB, 1950, Serial No. 153,651

9 Claims;

This invention has to do with means for controlling and elfecting a closing movement of a door and for yieldably holding the door closed.

I am aware that several types of door control units have been devised by others, but so far as I know, all such devices with which I am familiar have one or more disadvantages and reference is made to my copending application for patent on Door Control, Serial No. 104,277, filed July 12, 1949, now abandoned for a description of some of the more common faults of such devices. An object of this invention is to provide a novel, improved door control device of simple construction which has several advantages over earlier devices with which I am familiar.

Another object is to provide a simple door control unit embodying onl a few parts which can be readily manufactured and a device which is easy to install. v

A further object is to provide a novel device for controlling the movement of a door and for yieldably holding the door closed. In this connection it is an object to provide a device which serves to yieldably hold the door open at any posit-ion of the door beyond about 30 of opening.

A particular object of the invention is to provide a device of the type indicated which utilizes a coil or torsion spring as the motive power and which embodies a simple, slidably mounted rod for connecting a rotatable part of the device to the door to be controlled.

A further object is to provide a device which may be readily adjusted in place after it has been mounted to furnish the required amount of torque for the particular installation.

Another object is to provide a device which is inherently designed for long service without the need of attention.

These and other objects will be apparent from the drawing and the following description thereof.

Referring to the drawing, which is for illustrative purposes only:

- Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a portion of a cupboard with the door open showing a device embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is an inverted sectional plan view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the parts in the position occupied when the door is closed;

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2; and Fig; 5 is a section on line 55 of Fig. 4

More particularly describing the invention, reference numeral I I generally indicates a cupboard 2 which has a horizontally extending shelf l2, a side wall [3, and a door l5 which is hinged at 16. The device of the invention is generally indicated by numeral l8 and is shown as mounted beneath the shelf [2 and connected to the door.

The device includes a base plate member 20 which has a flat surface 2| adapted to be positioned against the member to which the device is to be secured, as in this case the under surface of the shelf H2. The base plate 20 is provided with a central, hollow stud 22, the major portion of which is square in cross section. The stud is adapted to accommodate a wood screw 24 for anchoring the device to the shelf. The outer end of the stud 22 is reduced in size to provide a cylindrical section 26 to accommodate a housing or cap 21. In attaching the device to a shelf or the like I employ a washer 28 between the head of the screw 24 and the end of the stud 22. The washer serves to retain the housing 21 but permits it to rotate as the section'26 is made longer than the thickness of the housing wall.

The housing 21 is generally hollow and is provided with a cylindrical recess 30 which fits rotatively about a shoulder 3| formed on the base plate 20. The outer portion or wall of the housing is apertured at 32 to receive stud 22 as aforementioned. I

I provide a torsion coil spring 34 betweenthe base plate 20 and the housing 21, one end of the spring being anchored in a slot 35 in the housing and the other end being formed to fit snugly around the stud 22 of the base plate.

The housing 21 is extended at one side at 38 and provided with a bore 39 therethrough. The bore slidably receives a connecting rod 4|, the outer end of which is attached to the door by means of a bracket 32, including a base plate portion 43 and the arm 44 which terminates in a stud pin 45. Wood screws 45 serve to mount the door bracket on the door. The outer end of the connecting rod 4! is provided with an elongated hole or slot 41 to receive the pin 45. I

In theoperation of the device it will be apparent that the torsion spring 34 serves to urge the housing member 21 clockwise as viewed in Figs. 2 and 3 and that this in turn serves to yieldably urge the door to a closed position through the medium of connecting rod 4] and the door bracket 42. The action of the device is to close the door from any point within about 30 of closed position. With the door positioned beyond about 30 with relation to closed position the device acts as a brake to yieldably hold the door in a given position since the mechanical advantage of the device diminishes as the door is opened until a point is reached where the device does not have sufiicient force to overcome the friction between the rod and its housing. This friction, caused by a binding-like action of the rod housing on the rod, resists movement of the door.

While I show an elongated hole or slot 47 in the connecting rod to receive the door bracket pin, this hole may be circular. However, I find that by elongating the hole, as the door closes the connecting rod is not drawn out in the final few degrees of movement and less spring force is required to provide effective closing and holding of the door.

For the purpose of adjusting the tension of the spring and anchoring the base plate against rotation, I provide a plurality of holes 59 arranged about the peripheral margin of the base plate. A wood screw 51 is screwed into the shelf or other support through a selected hole. It will be apparent that adjustments can be made merely by removing the screw, rotating the base, and then replacing the screw through a selected hole. Actually, only one hole 5:": is required, and the base might have merely a single apertured lug projecting beyond the housing for the pur pose. However, for convenience I provide the plurality of holes 50 shown.

Although the invention has been particularly shown and described, it is contemplated that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope thereof as indicated by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A door control device, comprising a base member adapted to be fixedly secured to a stationary support adjacent a pivotal axis of a door to be controlled, a rotatable member carried by said base member for pivotal movement about an axis parallel to the pivotal axis of the door, a spring interposed between said base and rotatable member for yieldably urging said rotatable member pivotally in a given direction, and a connecting rod freely slidably mounted in said rotatable member for movement in a plane at right angles to the pivotal axis of said rotatable member, said rod being adapted for pivotal connection to the door to be controlled.

2. A door control device, comprising a base member adapted to be fixedly secured to a stationary support adjacent a pivotal axis of a door to be controlled, a rotatable member carried by said base member, said base and rotatable member being constructed and arranged for mounting such that the pivotal axis of the rotatable member is parallel to the pivotal axis of the door to be controlled, a torsion spring interposed between said base and rotatable member for yieldably urging said rotatable member in a given direction, and a connecting rod freely slidably mounted in said rotatable member for movement in a plane at right angles to the pivotal axis of said rotatable member, said rod being adapted for pivotal connection to the door to be controlled.

3. A door control device, comprising a base plate having a stud, a housing rotatably mounted on said plate around said stud, a coiled torsion spring within said housing connected at one end to said plate and at the other to said housing, said housing having a guideway therein extending in a plane at right angles to the pivotal axis of the housing member, and a connecting rod freely slidably mounted in said guideway and adapted to be connected to the door to be controlled.

4. A device as defined in claim 3 in which said guideway is spaced radially of the pivotal axis of said housing.

5. A door control device, comprising a base plate adapted to be secured to a stationary support and having a central stud, said stud having a hole therethrough for the reception of a mounting screw, a housing rotatably mounted about the stud of said plate, a spring within said housing between said housing and plate for yieldably urging said housing rotatively, said base plate having a portion extending beyond said casing and adapted to be anchored to the stationary support in rotatively adjusted position, and a connecting rod freely slidably mounted in said housing for movement in a plane at right angles to the pivotal axis of said housing, said rod being adapted for pivotal connection to the door to be controlled.

6. A device as defined in claim 5 in which the stud on said base plate extends beyond said housing whereby to permit of said housing being retained by the mounting screw when the same is secured to the stationary support.

'7. A door control device, comprising a base plate, said plate having a fiat surface on one side for positioning against a support to which the device is to be attached and having a circular plateau with a central stud extending therefrom on the other side, a casing member having a circular recess adapted to fit rotatably about the plateau of said base plate and having a hole for the reception of said stud, a coil torsion spring in said recess and connected at one end to said housing and at the other to said stud, said casing member extending radially beyond said recess at one sid and having a guideway through the extended portion at right angles to the pivotal axis of said housing, and a connecting rod slidably mounted in said guideway and adapted to be connected to the door to be controlled.

8. A device as defined in claim 7 in which said stud is hollow and extends beyond said housing whereby to permit a mounting screw to serve to retain said housing and to secure said base plate to the support.

9. A device as defined in claim '7 in which said stud is hollow and extends beyond said housing whereby to permit a mounting screw to serve to retain said housing and to secure said base plate to the support and in which said base plate extends radially beyond said housing and provides means for the reception of an adjustment anchor screw.

ROBERT E. MILTON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 346,194 Coultaus July 27, 1886 533,815 Jackson Feb. 5, 1895 607,122 Murray July 1 1898 1,629,596 Stocker May 24, 1927 2,093,039 Eamon Sept. 14, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 25,705 Great Britain of 1913 247,008 Great Britain Feb. 11, 1926 

